Oystese play this season has made him a likely candidate for Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
Four Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors, five goals and two assists –– just some of the achievements that University of Rhode Island’s Men’s Soccer forward Isak Oystese has had so far this season.
The best part? He’s only a freshman.
Oystese’s love for soccer started in first grade and continued at Lambertseter Upper Secondary School in Oslo, Norway. In addition to his high school soccer career, he’s also was a member of the KFUM Oslo club, the same club that bred fellow Ram, graduate student Edvin Akselsen, where he won Best Player honors in 2016 and 2017 and was one of the team’s top goalscorers in 2018 and 2019.
Askelsen finds it refreshing to not only play with Oystese, but have him as a teammate.
“It’s always nice to have fellow Norwegians on the team because sometimes it’s nice to speak your own language and have a guy that understands your culture and that understands you in a different way than other internationals or Americans,” Akselsen said. “It’s nice to have a break from the whole college thing and talk about stuff going on back at home and have a break.”
In addition to having a prior connection to Akselsen, Head Coach Gareth Elliott saw Oystese perform at an I.D. clinic, a camp for prospective student athletes, pre-COVID-19 and saw how much of a high impact player he was. Oystese shared an interest in the school due to its coastal location, rich soccer tradition and facilities.
“I also have a lot of friends in the U.S. in different colleges who really like it here,” Oystese said. “Being abroad is a good experience to have to get out of my comfort zone. You learn a lot.”
Oystese has been a strong force on the field during his first year as a Ram. So far, he has been named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week four times and is the first player in conference history to earn this honor for three consecutive weeks.
Oystese keeps it simple for himself. He says his job is to just score and assist goals. Elliott believes that he does just that.
“He’s a goalscorer,” Elliott said. “He’s very calm and composed. He does a good job taking his chances when they come and he has an absolutely fantastic work ethic. When you combine all those things together he’s going to get himself some chances and because he’s a good finisher he is going to score some goals.”
As much as Oystese does for the team, the team has also brought him some of his closest friends and exciting opportunities.
“[Being part of the team] means a lot,” Oystese said. “We are a very nice group that I really appreciate. I have made friends for life and look forward to the next few years.”
Oystese has three goals he wants to accomplish before the end of the season –– be the best player in the conference, the conference’s top scorer and get a ring with the team – and he is on his way to accomplish them.
Along with the rest of the Rams, Oystese will be taking on La Salle University in their final home game of the season on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.